State Party Officials Praise His Work On Several Campaigns

Thomas Dec is fresh out of Yale, but this summer will hardly be a vacation for him.

The 21-year-old is back living at his boyhood home with his parents, but he's also helping to run a mayoral campaign in Stamford and was recently chosen as chairman of Wilton's Democratic Town Committee.

He's the youngest person to ever hold that post in either of the town's party committees and state Democratic officials said this week that he might be the youngest person to lead a town committee in the history of Connecticut.

In an interview, Dec said he wants the local party to diversify, especially in terms of its age. Getting more young people involved in the party, he said, could be the key improving Democrats' chances in Wilton.

Dec said he wants to reach voters who pay attention to national politics but who might not think much about local contests and issues.

"I'd like to reach out to them and bring an unprecedented level of engagement into the position," Dec said. "I think my election was indicative that people are ready for that change."

The task could prove to be a challenging one: All of Wilton's state legislators are Republicans, as is the town's first selectman. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney also won the in the 2012 election here, even though he ultimately lost the state.

In Wilton, located in Fairfield County, Republicans outnumber Democrats by a 4,567-to-3,248 margin, according to the latest figures from the Secretary of the State's office.

Even Congressman Jim Himes, on whose campaigns Dec has previously worked, lost Wilton in 2010 and 2012.

But Dec said he thinks Democrats have a chance the town, pointing to President Barack Obama's victory there in 2008.

"There is a precedent there," he said. "If we get our message out there and keep recruiting solid candidates to run, you could turn a Republican town blue."

And Dec has already had some success changing minds within his family. His father had been registered as a Republican and his mother was not officially registered with a party, but Dec said he convinced them to switch their affiliations after Obama won his first election.

Dec graduated from Yale this year with a degree in Intensive Political Science, a degree he earned with distinction. He said he is considering attending graduate school in the future. At Yale, he was part of the Liberal Party of the Yale Political Union and the Yale Model Congress. He also worked in a local alderman's race in New Haven.

Jonathan Harris, the executive director of the Connecticut Democratic party, said the group isn't certain about whether Dec is the youngest town chairman in state history, because local parties aren't required to send in age information to the central committee.

Harris said he thinks Dec will be a capable leader, even if he's younger than other local chairmen. The state party was already familiar with Dec; he had served as a delegate for Connecticut at the 2012 national Democratic convention in Charlotte.

"He's young chronologically, but he has experience," Harris said in an interview. "It's not like he's just a person who just showed up. He's already paid his dues and shown that not only does he have the smarts, he's got the work ethic."